Our Humble Little Dwelling

I\'m being REALLY nice here, updating so soon. Enjoy!

Chapter 6

Music was blaring “Lean Wit It, Rock Wit it” by Dem Franchize Boys when Keith walked into Blue Velvet, and as usual, the dance floor was filled with hot and sweaty clubbers. No matter how pissed Keith would get at him, he had to admit DJ Vince was good at keeping a party going.

Vincent was in his usual DJ’s booth spinning records, so he didn’t see Keith walk in. But then, Keith wasn’t exactly looking for him when he came in the club though.

Keith was receiving looks and hard glances from men and women alike when he first walked in. But he wasn’t that surprised by it. Keith knew people thought he was good looking and he knew it his damn self; small, fit body, immaculate skin, pearly white teeth, soft and full lips, abnormally light pale gray eyes, shoulder-length hair, and an overconfident swagger in his stride that reflected his self-assurance. Since his initial hook up with Vince, whenever these ‘looks’ would come his way, he’d steer the other direction. He was more than satisfied with the man he was with, so he saw no need in acting on the offered impulses. But that night was different. Keith stopped and mingled with all he made eye contact with. He happily accepted offers from men who proposed to buy him drinks, he flirted with women even though they stirred no desire below his belt, and he whispered small talk into men’s ears while he just so happened to have caressed their arm or hand.

Vincent played Rihanna’s new song “S.O.S” and a rather tall man in his late twenties asked Keith to dance. Keith happily accepted.

Vincent had just stood up from picking out another LP from his collection of records, when he spotted Keith out on the dance floor. He was dancing with some guy he didn’t recognize. *What the hell is he doing here?* he thought, confused. * I told him not to be here. Well, he can forget it if he thinks I’m supposed to be jealous because he’s dancing with some guy. I don’t give a damn.* His lover and the mysterious man began to dance closer to each other. *Nope. Don’t give a damn.* Keith wrapped an arm around the man’s neck as they both gyrated together to the music. *What the hell is he doing putting his arm around that guy?*

Vincent now stood frowning down at the dance floor from the DJ’s booth, when Tucker Richards walked up to him. Tucker was an older man in his mid/late thirties who was once the headlining DJ for Blue Velvet before Vince came. He was a pretty good DJ in his earlier years but over time, his luster behind the turntables faded. A new style of deejaying came around and Tucker couldn’t keep up with it. That’s when Vincent came. Since then, he’s been the sort of ‘second man’ if Vincent can’t make it to the club for whatever reason.

“Vince! Hey Vincent!”

The young man finally removed his eyes from the ‘scene’ with Keith and his dance partner to Tucker who was standing beside him. “Yeah!” he said over the loud music.

“I said you’re doing great tonight! Everyone seems to be having a blast!”

Vincent glanced back at Keith as he was still dancing and smiling with the other man, like there was no care in the world. “You’re right about that.” He murmured.

“Look, I was just checking with you to make sure you were still taking off tomorrow!”

“Yeah! All this job hunting I do during the day and staying up late at night here….I need a break!”

Tucker nodded. “I can understand that! Well, if I don’t get to talk to you the rest of the night, enjoy yourself tomorrow and take it easy, okay?!”

“Thanks, man! I will—“ Vincent took another look down at the dance floor and saw Keith had now turned around from the other man. Vince got really mad when he watched the nameless man pull his own shirt off, then reach around and pull Keith’s black shirt over his head. If Keith was surprised by it, he couldn’t tell. His lover just smiled even more as the man pressed their bodies together from the back and continued dancing.

“Fuck!!” Vince yelled, now pissed off.

“What’s the matter?!” Tucker asked. He noticed the sudden change in Vincent’s demeanor…..and it was a livid demeanor.

Vincent was so fumed, he never heard Tucker speak. Instead, he quickly grabbed another record from his stack and handed it to him. “Here! When this songs over, play this!” he left the DJ booth before Tucker could give him answer.

“Vince?! Vince, wait a minute, I….”

The man dancing behind Keith was having a great time. He had come to the club alone. A relatively new guy to the clubbing scene, he wanted to change up and try a new life since the life he had before with his now ex-boyfriend put a damper on him. He hadn’t expected to even dance once arriving to Blue Velvet. But then he saw this gray eyed beauty. He was a strong petite type with a fit body, nice round ass, and long raven hair that would be something perfect to hold on to. Not normally the flamboyant type, the young man with the pretty smile brought out a since of lavishness in him he never knew he had. He wondered if the man did that to everyone he met. To prove it, he never would’ve thought of pulling off his shirt anywhere in public –even though other men were doing it too—but there he was dancing shirtless behind the origin of his newfound character.

Too caught up in the dancing, the man didn’t notice a guy barging through the crowd of clubbers until it was too late. He looked forward and saw a young man with beige mulatto skin stare at him with a look of growing rage. The guy was obviously very fit and tall, but his anger seemed to have made him even larger. The look on the man’s face said it all to him, “This guy is his lover.” He suddenly stopped dancing.

Keith noticed his dance partner had stopped dancing and he stopped. “What?!” he asked, confused.

“HEY!” Vince yelled. Keith turned around and saw his lover.

“Oh hi, Vince!” Keith said very chipper. “What are you doing down from your DJ’s booth?!”

“Are you TRYING to piss me off?!”

“What are you talking about?!” Keith asked innocently.

Vincent snatched Keith’s shirt from out of the other man’s hand and threw it at Keith. “You know damn well what the fuck I’m talking about?!”

Keith’s eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute! Just who the hell do you think you’re talking to like that?!”

“I’m talking to you! I wanna see to you outside!”

“I’m not going anywhere!”

“Outside, Keith now!” Vincent walked off, giving Keith’s dance partner a long, hard stare.

Eager to rid himself of the blame, the man raised both his hands in the air in a gesture of innocence. “Man, I didn’t know!” Vince didn’t respond. He kept walking to the exit.

Vincent waited outside on the dark street for ten minutes, before Keith finally came out. It was pretty clear out on the street, so they could talk without the prying ears. “What is your problem?” Keith asked.

“MY problem—“ Vince laughed. He couldn’t believe his ears. “I’m not the one bumping and grinding shirtless on the dance floor with some stranger, Keith! What are you doing here anyway? I told your ass to stay at home tonight!”

Keith held up his index finger and pointed at Vince. “First off, you don’t TELL me to do anything! I don’t know what type of boyfriends you had before, but this one doesn’t respond to orders! Secondly, did you really think I would believe that bullshit about your boss not wanting me up in the DJ booth?! You just didn’t want to see me and gave that stupid ass excuse as a valid reason!”

“So to get me back, you decide you want to come to the club and shake your ass in front of that guy half naked?! KNOWING I would be there to see it?!”

“Damn right I did!”

Vince shook his head and started to pace. “You’re fuckin’ unbelievable.”

Keith pointed the blue and black painted door of the club. “You know how many numbers I got from men and women in there?” he pulled out a hand full of cocktail napkins, corner pieces of paper, and business cards. “Look at this. People like me, Vince. And I like people. I’ve called you hundreds of times trying to apologize for blowing up at you two weeks ago, but you are so hardheaded, you refuse to accept it. I don’t know, maybe it takes you a good month to forgive. But I want to let you know, I’m not one that waits, Vince. You keep holding this grudge against me, I can just as easily find somebody else.”

Vince frowned. “What is this? Some kind of ultimatum? You thinking about breaking up with me or something?”

Keith shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know what it is.”

“No. No, I think you do. You’re breaking up with me. Well, let me save you the trouble of actually having to say it…we’re done. You’re officially a free man now, Keith. Enjoy your life. I gotta get back.” Vincent walked back inside the club.

Keith ran his hands over his hair. No longer in the party mood, he started to walk down the street to find his car.

***

One month later…

“Mmmmm. Did you eat something fruity?” Leo asked Kyle as they lay in an embrace on the teen’s bed.

“I had a strawberry shake from Dairy Queen a little while ago. Why?”

“Oh nothing. It’s just your lips taste especially sweet today.” He leaned down and kissed him.

The new young couple were nonstop affection since they first hooked up almost two months ago now. Leo had never dated anybody so caring and considerate in all his life. And well Kyle…Kyle’s never dated anybody period, so he’s been pulling all stops to make their relationship work. But like any relationship, they had a few spats along the way—not many—but they usually got over whatever they fussed about by the end of the day.

One thing Kyle really liked about Leo was that he didn’t rush anything. They took their time in the relationship, realizing all of this was new to Kyle. He never pushed the boy to do anything he didn’t want to do and Kyle appreciated that quality in Leo more than anything else. But Kyle WAS getting new feelings. Leo practically spent all his free time at Kyle’s house, cuddling, giggling, laughing, talking, kissing. Every time Leo came in contact with him, either with his lips, hands, or careless brush of his leg, Kyle would feel a stir in his loins. Leonardo’s body had soon become a thing of interest. Watching him stretch, lift something, or simply slouch loosely on the sofa peaked his interests. Since they had started dating, there was the kissing and romantic touching exchanged between the two, but never the heavy petting. Kyle knew it was time for them to move on to the next stage.

Kyle caressed Leo’s shoulder as they laid there, hazel eyes staring lovingly into pale gray ones. “Leo?”

“Hm?”

“I’m enjoying the relationship we have together.”

Leo smiled. “So am I.”

“I feel really safe with you.”

“Good. I hope you do.”

Kyle turned his eyes away, choosing to look down at Leo’s chest instead of his eyes. “…Safe enough with you to maybe…do something.”

The brunette’s eyes widened. “Do something?” Kyle nodded. “You mean like fool around?” Kyle nodded again. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. Nothing too serious like sex yet, but…something.”

“And you’re sure about this?”

“Leo?” Kyle whined.

“Okay. I just wanted to be certain about this. So….what do you want to do?”

The boy with the raven hair shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe we could just wing it.”

“Well, what do you like?”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you like and don’t like done to you so I’ll know.”

“I don’t know what I like and don’t like. Am I supposed to know?”

Leo smiled. “No. We can figure it out together then.” Leo kissed Kyle again, pushing him on to his back at the same time. Leo began to kiss around Kyle’s ear, grazing his tongue around the edges, and nibbling on the earlobe. “How’s that?”

“That’s great.” Kyle whispered.

Leo kissed his way down Kyle’s neck and stopped right at his pulse point. Immediately, he started to lick the skin then nipped him with his teeth. Kyle gasped. Holding his lover’s head close to his neck, he closed his eyes as he started to suck on his neck. “Oh wooooowww.” Kyle murmured.

“That feel good?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Then you’ll love this—“ Leo ran his hand down Kyle’s lean torso, where he slid his hand under his shirt to rub the boy’s belly and tweak a nipple. When Kyle moaned, Leo reached over and tweaked the other one. Lifting his shirt far enough, the young man with the hazel eyes ran his tongue over the nipples, giving both equal attention with his tongue, lips, and teeth.

“Leo.” Kyle whispered.

Leo untied the drawstring to his boyfriend’s pajama pants and reached in massaging the hardening organ. “How do you feel about ball play?”

Kyle frowned a bit. “I’m a bit sensitive in that area.”

“Okay. No ball play, got it.” He pulled out the penis and began to stroke it. Kyle bit his lip in arousal as he timidly reached into the opening of Leo’s boxers and pulled out his hardening erection. He gave the cock an experimental squeeze before he began to stroke along with him.

The room was silent with the exception of moans and gasps exchanged between the two. Soon there speed grew faster and Leo started to kiss Kyle on the lips to mask the noises that suddenly became louder from his mouth. Orgasm soon approached and their bodies began to tremble.

“Oh my God.” Kyle said shakily. Leo just groaned.

That’s when the bedroom door opened to Keith, who was holding up two black dresses. “Hey Kyle do you think that these two…….oh shit sorry.”

Leo and Kyle broke apart quickly. “Keith!” the cousin yelled shocked.

“Sorry. Sorry.” Keith shut the door.

Leo sighed. “Your cousin has got to learn how to knock, Kyle. This will make incident number four.”

“I know. I’m going to go talk to him. I’ll be back.” Kyle got out of bed and walked out the front door of his bedroom. He found his cousin downstairs in the dining room, glimpsing over the two new black dresses he’d made that were laid across the dining room table. “Keith—“

“I know. I know. Shame on me. I shouldn’t have barged in your room like that, especially now that you have a boyfriend. Don’t worry yourself though. I know how self conscious you are. I didn’t see your winky.”

“Good…..My what? Where in the world did you get a word like ‘winky’?” Kyle laughed.

“Mom. She was really bad at calling a man’s ‘piece’, his ‘winky’. It’s kind of stuck with me now.” Keith shrugged.

The younger cousin pointed to the two dresses. “Are these two more new dresses you’ve made?” Keith nodded. “Geez man. When are you going to stop? These past two months, all you’ve been doing is spending long hours in the basement making clothes. Aren’t you exhausted?”

“No. I like sewing. It’s almost therapeutic for me when I spend my time creating new designs of clothing. Besides, when I sew, it keeps my mind off of…..” he stopped.

“Off of having to think about Vincent?” Kyle asked. When he saw his cousin turn his face away, he knew he was right. He walked close to him and placed a gentle hand on the other’s shoulder. “You miss him, don’t you?”

“No.”

“Stop lying, Keith. For as long as I’ve known you, I could always tell when you were lying.”

“HE is the one who broke up with ME.”

Kyle shrugged. “It’s been two months since you to have heard from each other. Does it really matter who did what at this point? What really matters is that you and Vince have a connection. Whether you two noticed it or not, there was a change that came over the both of you when you were together. Like maybe life ran a lot more smoother and simpler when you were around each other. And everyone noticed you both were genuinely happy being together.”

“Vincent’s a mess.” Leo said. He had come downstairs and stood by the doorway of the dining room sometime in the middle of what Kyle was saying. “The times when I would return home from spending the night here, he’d try to act like he didn’t care, but he’d ask me all these questions about you: How is he? What’s he looking like? What was he doing? Is he seeing anybody? I’m just going to tell you, you guys need to hurry up and kiss and make up, because I’m tired of having to answer all those damn questions.”

***

Vincent walked into his small apartment that night and shut the door after a long day at work. Wearing a dark blue jumpsuit and covered in motor oil, he was dying for a shower. Two months ago, he thought he was a shoe in for the dishwashing job at Manny’s Restaurant when Leo informed him about the open job. But he never got a call back. He couldn’t believe he didn’t get the job after a week and a half of hearing nothing. I mean, really…what’s complicated about washing dishes? Why couldn’t he have gotten the job? Desperate for extra cash, Vincent got in touch with his father and he helped him get the job he was at now. He wasn’t a mechanical wiz, but he knew enough to keep the job.

Stripping himself of his clothes, Vincent hopped in the shower to clean off. Once he was finished, he dressed in a white v-neck t-shirt, worn-in jeans, and brown leather flip-flops, then called in an order for pizza.

He was in the middle of watching MTV’s My Super Sweet Sixteen, when his doorbell rang. *Damn. That was quick. I guess they don’t call them Speedy Petey’s Pizza for nothing.* Vince got up from the couch while pulling out his wallet from his pocket and quickly answered the door. Keith was standing on the other side.

“Hi, Vince.”

Vincent slipped his wallet back in his pocket. “Keith.” He said rather dryly.

Now a bit nervous after seeing that Vincent hadn’t let the grudge from two months ago go, Keith crossed his arms across his chest. “So…..um….how’s it going?”

*Unbelievable.* Vince thought as he shook his head. “What is this, Keith? I don’t see you for two months and you show up at my door making small talk with me like nothing happened between us.”

“Damn it, Vince. What do you want me to say?! You want me to apologize for something?! Like what?! For yelling at you almost three months ago?! I’ve done that a billion times already! How about you apologize for being an ass and avoiding my phone calls?!”

“And you stripping and shaking your ass for that guy at the club can go without justification?!”

“I knew I shouldn’t have listened to Kyle. I should’ve kept my ass at home where I wanted to be and just live my life.”

“Glad to see you have such a strong will to make this work between us.”

“What ‘us’, Vince?! What ‘us’?! There IS no ‘us’. You broke up with me, remember?”

“But that’s not what I wanted! You were the one who was feeding that bullshit about how men wanted you and how you could easily start kicking it with one of them! You hinted that you wanted to break up with me!”

“So what are you saying? You didn’t want to break up with me?!”

“No!”

“You never answered my calls, you kept dodging me, you never wanted to talk to me! Why should I believe you?!”

“Because I love you, damn it!”

Keith froze. Did he just hear that correctly? “Wh-what did you say?”

“I said, I love you…..damn it.” Vincent tossed his hands up in defeat. “I love you. Yeah, I know we could just see other people, but I don’t want anybody else. Nobody makes me feel the way you do.”

Keith looked him in the eyes. His pale gray eyes reflected remorse. “You know I’m terrible at sentimental stuff, so I hope you believe me when I say ‘forgive me’.”

Vincent closed in the distance between the two and gently placed his hand to Keith’s cheek. “I do. You forgive me?”

“Yes.” Eager to touch him once again, Keith pressed his lips against Vince’s and planted one on him. Boy, did he plant one on him. He slid his tongue in Vince’s mouth and massaged his against the other’s tongue. After minutes of endless kissing, Keith finally pulled back whispering, “Well, are you going to let me in, or are we going to make up in the hallway?”

Vince smiled against Keith’s mouth as he grabbed his hand. “Come on.” Fully intent on escorting Keith back to his bedroom for a bit of ‘reconciliation’, Vincent looked puzzled when Keith grabbed his arm to stop him.

“I’d like to tell you something.”

“Sure. What is it?” Without speaking, the young man with the raven hair pulled his larger lover over to the couch where they both sat down.

Holding larger hands in between his own, he opened his mouth to speak. “I was only a year older than Kyle when I went to prison. Then, I was wild, reckless, and short tempered. I’m not as wild and reckless anymore, but I’m still working on the temper thing…….” He looked away from Vincent’s soft eyes and sighed deeply. “This is really hard for me to talk about.”

“Whenever you’re ready, baby. You don’t have to tell me today.” Vincent whispered.

“No. No, I want to tell you. I need to. I’ve kept this part of my life locked up inside me for so long, I feel I need to tell someone. I must get this off my chest.” He looked back at him again. “My life could be summed up as pitiful before I went to prison. I ran all over the place, hanging out with all the wrong people, getting into all kinds of trouble. I was caught by the police one night when they flashed a light on me while I was performing ‘services’ in an alley for some guy I still to this day don’t know. When they searched me, they found cocaine in my pocket. They also ran a check on me and found out I was the guy who hotwired a Ford Taurus that went missing the week before. I punched out an officer and added another offense to my already long list for the judge. The judge immediately tossed my ass into St. Wilkes Penitentiary for two years.”

“And how was prison for you?” Vince asked.

“Hell. Absolute hell. When you are placed in an environment where there are nothing but big, bulky-looking men staring at each other, and here you are, small, young, with long hair and slightly femme characteristics, you’re definitely going to be a target.” Vincent turned to face Keith and started to softly massage the back of his neck with one hand. The thought that Keith would’ve been a ‘target’ in prison crossed his mind when he found out he was locked up. Keith IS a bit on the soft side. And though Vince knew he was capable of fighting off one guy given his short temper, there was no way he could’ve held back a whole group.

Too shame now to look his lover in the eyes anymore, Keith chose to look at the far wall before him. “It started out with words. Guys would call me ‘Princess’, ‘Sweetass’, ‘Sweetheart’, ‘Hot Pocket’, ‘Honey’, anything you can think of.”

“I’m guessing now you’re not crazy about terms of endearment?”

Keith shook his head. “No. I can’t stand to hear it. I don’t mind it so much when you use ‘baby’ or ‘babe’ though. Anyway, I soon noticed that names didn’t quite suit them and they started making gestures and touching me…….groping me. Guys would simulate cocksucking gestures at me when they’d pass by, I’d get grabbed in the lunch line, smacked on the ass in the showers………the showers.” Tears started to form in his eyes and he quickly covered his mouth, scared that he may break down before he was able to finish. “St. Wilkes set up a routine for the showers. For every floor, ten prisoners are to go into the shower for an hour before the next ten rotate in. I was in the shower one day and I noticed four other guys were staring at me really hard. I also noticed they each had a rubber glove in their hands—“ The tears he was trying to hold back finally won over and they rolled down his olive toned face. “They grabbed me…and tossed me to the floor…I tried to fight them back, but they were too strong…I yelled for help, thinking that the guards or the other five guys would help me…..The guards didn’t hear me once they stuffed a bath towel in my mouth and the other prisoners were getting turned on….They pinned me on my stomach and spread my legs….Using the gloves as condoms and soap as a lubricant they…they… raped me.” Keith sobbed.

Vincent quickly grabbed Keith into his arms and held him close to his chest. He had a few tears in his eyes as well. It wasn’t easy having to listen to all those terrible things happening to the man he loved more than anything. “I’m sorry, babe. I’m so sorry.” He sat there holding Keith and rubbing his back until he started to calm down. “How long did it last?”

Keith sniffed. “A year.”

“There was no way of getting help sooner?”

“The guards didn’t believe me when told them at first. Said that I was just trying to be difficult. A year later when they ran up on my many bruises, they reported it to the warden. I was placed in solitary confinement the rest of my sentence.” Keith sat back up and wiped his eyes. “There I took up a trade in sewing. Been doing it ever since. But you know what? The worst part about being in prison wasn’t the rapings or beatings or the name callings. It was the fact that my parents were both killed in a car accident and I was denied temporary release to go to the funeral. Now that I’m out, I’m too ashamed to go see their graves.”

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault. You tried to get to the funeral.”

“But it’s my fault I was in there in the first place. If I wasn’t acting so stupid then, I wouldn’t have been in prison when my parents died.”

Vincent sighed. He didn’t know what to say. The doorbell rang. “That’s the pizza.” He walked to the door and paid the young teenager before taking the pizza box and shutting the door. “Hungry?”

Keith smiled. “Starved.” He got up and walked to the small kitchen area and grabbed a slice, biting into it.

“You feel any better now that you’ve talked about it to someone?”

“Yeah actually. I feel lighter for some reason.”

“Well, that was a big weight you carried on your shoulders.” He leaned over and kissed him on his cheek. “Don’t do that anymore, okay?”

“Don’t do what?”

“Don’t keep something like that balled up inside you. It doesn’t have to be me that you tell, but tell somebody.” Keith nodded. “Can you stay the night?”

“Sure. I was hoping you’d ask, because I’m really not in the mood to witness more of Kyle and Leo’s lovey-dovey romance.”

Vince laughed. “Are the two lovebirds getting sweet on each other?”

“If they were anymore sweet, I’ll be a diabetic by the end of the week.” They both laughed.

Together, Keith and Vincent ate and talked until the last slice of pizza was eaten. Keith yawned and stretched. “What time is it?”

Vincent checked his watch. “10:45. Wow. We’ve been talking for hours.”

“And I’m talked out.” Keith stood and dumped his paper plate in the trash can. “I’m going to sleep.” He started to walk down the hall, but stopped. “I didn’t bring any clothes to sleep in.”

“What makes you think you need clothes?” Vincent pulled his own shirt off and tossed it on the couch. Holding on to the hem of Keith’s shirt, he pulled it over his head and tossed it on the couch next to his. He bent down and kissed Keith’s neck as he started to unbuckle his pants. As soon as he got them opened enough for him to slide his hand through, Keith pushed Vince away.

The man with the pale gray eyes slowly pushed his jeans and underwear down his legs, stepping out of them. “You’re right, Vince.” He kissed him. “Goodnight.” He walked down the hall to Vincent’s bedroom.

Vince stood still in the kitchen, stumped. “Wait a minute. ‘Goodnight’?” he walked down the hall towards his bedroom. “I thought we were—“ He was cut off when Keith showed up at the bedroom door with a smile on his face. He grabbed Vince by the neck and kissed him passionately. Vincent stepped further into the room and shut the door behind him.